title: Queen of Shadows

author: Sarah J. Maas

series: Throne of Glass #4

genre: YA, High Fantasy

page count: 645

publication: September 1st, 2015

publisher: Bloomsbury

format: First, American Hardcover

source: Purchased

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

Alright, so this book. Where to start?….

To just sum up without any spoilers, I’m just going to say that I loved this book, it’s my favorite in the series, and my favorite of the year. It was even better then I could imagine, and I’m so excited for book 5. Also, guys do read The Assassin’s Blade before this, it’s not necessary, but you’ll get a different view if you read it first, because old characters return.

Okay, so this is the 4th book in the series, so I can’t really mention anything without spoilers, so from now on there will be spoilers, and I wouldn’t want you guys to get spoiled, so stop reading now, just know that it was great and I loved it!

So, we start off with a Dorian chapter, and it broke my heart. I was on Twitter throughout reading this so I’ll probably include screenshots of the tweets I made throughout this review. But it was so heartbreaking seeing Dorian in that state, and I was just willing for him to fight. I knew he wasn’t going to die, because even if Dorian were to die (which he’s not) he wouldn’t die this early So I knew that they’d find a way to get him out of the collar, but it was still heartbreaking seeing him in that state. All of Dorian’s chapters were sad, and they were all short and abrupt and she just added them in there to break our hearts lol.

Then, Arobynn comes along. I’ve been waiting for that reunion for a bit, and it didn’t disappoint. See, Arobynn has some issues, I knew he was like this psychotic being, but he really is. It was crazy to read about. Finding out that he’d actually told Rourke what to do to Sam, he’s even sicker then I could’ve imagined. Then at the end there, when he put the ring on Aelin’s finger… I have to be honest, I saw that coming, it wasn’t entirely surprising, and I’m surprised Aelin and the crew didn’t see it coming. As soon as he saved the ring, I knew it was for precisely that purpose. That’s another thing with this book, I saw pretty much everything coming, and not to say it was predictable, because not everyone was like me and saw things coming, I think I feel like if I was a writer, I’d write the same way Sarah does, so I can see where she’s going with her story. I’ll get into other scenes where I knew what was going to happen a bit later… But I’m glad Arobynn is finally gone.

Lysandra, I was shocked by her return. Her and Aelin’s friendship I couldn’t have foreseen, especially after reading The Assassin’s Blade, I mean those two hated each other… It was nice though that she got another female friend.I didn’t expect Lysandra’s story line to turn so deep, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love that she’s a shapeshifter, and that she’s rare and unique, and I love that she’s part of Aelin’s court. It’s just all great. Also, she’s definitely going to be getting with Aedion later on, they’re adorable.

Let’s talk about Chaol -__-…. Oh my I hated him in this book, by the end there, I liked him again, but he really needs to get his shit together, by the end of Heir of Fire I liked him again bu then we start off this book and he’s once again a piece of shit. It’s one or the other, choose and stick with it. Yes, there were certain points in this where I saw his points, but other times he was just ugh. But when he refused to tell her about magic, really…. I hate how he thought she’d just kill Dorian, like if she did it would be to save him from this life of despair, she cares about him just as much as you do.. Then he had some stupid line about how when magic returned, ordinary non magic wielders would be irrelevant, like shut up… I understand his concerns but he just went the wrong way about it.

As you can tell I was really aggravated lol.

Then Chaol and Nesryn. I loved Nesryn, another badass female, and I liked her relationship with Chaol. I mean I hope they find happiness together, but I don’t really care if I’m being honest. Chaol’s future is really irrelevant at the moment, I no longer think he’s going to die now, because Nesryn is in the picture, but I don’t know. I don’t want him to die, because I don’t want Dorian to lose his friend, especially not now. When the King said he’d “killed” Chaol, I knew he was lying because he never actually came out and said ” I killed Chaol” I knew he was just toying with them.

Soo, the King. As I got more into the book I started thinking what if the King was actually just like Dorian under someone else’s control. I didn’t really go too deep into the theory, it was just always in the back of my head, and turns out I was right. I don’t think his final words were lies, but a lot of things don’t add up. He says that everything he’s done was to protect Dorian, but he put a collar around his neck… I wasn’t sure if he was going to die at the end or not…but since he’s not the big bad wolf in this then I guess he had to go. I can’t believe Dorian is King, oh wow. So proud of my baby. He’s been though so much though, and he has to heal. Oh, and here’s what I was talking about earlier on, when Aelin went to the castle with Chaol not thinking the King already knew she was Aelin. I wasn’t surprised when he called her Aelin, and I’m not sure why she was. The man isn’t stupid, he can add two an two together.

Duke Perrington was a nice twist. I mean it doesn’t make sense because Perrington seemed to be so submissive to the King, but I’m guessing he had to be to keep up appearances, since he’s only a Duke and he was the King. I’m so excited to see where this is all going. It was so sad seeing Roland, like oh wow. Then Kaltain, and the shadowfire. I’m glad she got to go out with that bang at the end.

So now we’re getting more into Manon and her story line. I loved Manon so much, I actually think she might be even be more badass then Aelin is. I loved Asterin’s part in this book, I was actually quite surprised that Asterin broke that brainwash before Manon did. Hearing her story with the hunter, and her child, it was heartbreaking. I love that Manon is breaking through now too. By the end of this I think she’s definitely going to be fighting on Aelin’s side of this war. I loved that fight scene with Manon and Aelin, it was one of my ultimate favorites. I loved that Aelin saved her and in return Manon told her about Dorian still being in there. I loved the Elide story, it took me a bit to remember who she was, but when I figured it out… I’m so looking forward to that reunion too. So many reunions! Also, Manon and Dorian, anyone else seeing a potential relationship brewing… idk, it’s interesting, but we’ll get more into that when I talk about Rowan and Aelin. This is going to be so long lol.

Absolutely loved Aedion and Aelin’s reunion. Loved Rowan and Aelin’s reunion, my favorite was probably Aedion and Rowan’s meeting, because I’d been anticipating that one. The whole blood oath dilemma was sad, but I feel like that fight was dragged by both parties. I understand that Aedion had been waiting for this his whole life, but it was her oath to offer so he should’ve respected that, and Aelin, she knew how important it was to him, so she could’ve been more compassionate, but it all worked out in the end. I love Aedion and Rowan relationship, how they call each other brothers, and Aedion was willing to die for him. I knew that was the way it was going to end up between them once they got past their differences. I cried when Rowan came back, it was so beautiful.

So Rowan and Aelin’s relationship.I ship it, I do, but they’re not gonna last. One it’s too complicated, he’s immortal, she’s not, and also, they were introduced too early. There are still 2 books left, do you guys really think they’re going to stay together?.. No. I’m still 100% sure Dorian is endgame, and that’s why they’re not together now. Also, Rowan’s lines in this book tho, I was shocked lol. I’d be fine if they ended up together, really, but it’s not gonna happen. I actually think that he and Manon will end up together, is it just me? Because Manon and Dorian are like something now, and it’s like really.. Aelin with an immortal, Dorian possibly with an immortal as well, so you see where I’m heading at…SO yeah.

Also, I love how she changed the narrative from Celaena to Aelin, although I’m going to miss seeing Celaena written because it’s a beautoful name. I love how when Dorian saw her he said Aelin as opposed to Celaena ♥

Alright, lastly that scene with Aelin and Dorian in that tower. I’ll just let my tweets speak for themselve , because they’re so endgame.

Yup, I mean, did you see how great and amazing and unstoppable they were together, INFINITE guys, INFINITE. Fire and Ice, I’ve been saying it all along, not even Rowan can keep up with that.

Okay, I think I covered everything. Leave your thoughts below!

I’ll include some other tweets that didn’t make it in the review below

Like this:

title: Heir of Fire

author: sarah j. maas

series: throne of glass #3

genre: ya, high fantasy

page count: 562

publication: september 2, 2014

publisher: bloomsbury

format: e-book

source:library

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king’s assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

Alright, so this book, this book. I can’t even begin. I loved it so much.

It’s my favorite so far, I loved the new characters and the different perspectives, I loved the ending (well it was heartbreaking) but still epic. I loved Rowan so much, see Rowan is the Will/ Jace of the story, he starts off as this arrogant asshole, but it’s the tyoe of arrogant asshole where you can already tell there’s something else underneath it all, and when we deep enough to meet that person, oh it’s beautiful.

Then there’s Manon who was such an interesting character, I mean when you first meet her she’s like this bloodsucker witch, she’s awful really, but she’s interesting, from the first chapter we meet her, I could already tell that she was going to be a great character to read about, by her second chapter I could tell there was more to her. There also was a mention of Ansel (if you’ve read Assassin’s Blade you know) but I’m so excited to see her again, I’m so glad she succeeded in her goals, and I can’t wait to see that reunion between her and Celeana.

Then there’s Aedion whom I adore, I loved him. I never believed he was actually on the King’s side because he’s related to Aelin, and that’s just not possible, though the fact that he had made a replica of the ring, was a nice surprise, he’s really smart. People seem to think he might be a love interest to Aelin, which no, that’s not happening. they’re cousins, not closely, but they’re cousins who grew up together as cousins so that’s not happening. He’s a protector, kind of like Chaol but a hell of a lot more interesting.

Then Sorscha, I really thought she was actually Yrene, the healer from the first novella, but nope. Her story line was pretty interesting to say the least…

I loved seeing Wendlyn too, it was nice being away from Adarlan.

Oh and Maeve what a bitch, she and the King would make a cute couple..

So yeah, that’s all I have to say without spoilers, from here on there will be spoilers, some might be mild some might not.

Okay, so a lot of people say that Manon’s story line was their least favorite, but here’s the thing, I really enjoyed her chapters, there were times when things were happening in someone else’s story and it’d switch to Manon and I’d want it to just hurry along, but I was never bored in her chapters, she was a very interesting character to read about, I knew there was much more to her then what seemed, so it was interesting reading more about her. That fight scene with Abraxos vs Titus, that was a beautiful scene, one of my favorites. I loved their relationship so much, I love how Manon was starting to feel love for him, but she didn’t know how to put it in words, so she just said grateful for his existence lol . Then that scene with the Spiders, that scene reminded me so much of Annabeth and Arachne in Mark of Athena. I was so shocked when she just stole the silk and it was so nice seeing her and Abraxos form that plan. I think there’s definitely going to be payback for that, but it was still really nice and smart of her to do. I’m excited to see that scene in QoS where she meets Celaena, she’s definitely going to start to realize that she’s not who all those other witches have tried to turn her into.

So, Sorscha, you know I actually enjoyed her little romance with Dorian. I mean I knew it wasn’t going to last, but I think it was fair for him to have his own romance and to feel loved, I mean after all Celaena put him through, he deserved it. Although, it broke my heart it see his pain, but her dying was really the only way this could’ve have gone. She really didn’t deserve to die, but it was the only way for it to go.. Then Dorian has the collar around his neck now, but we’ll talk about that in a bit…

My absolute favorite of this book was the Rowan and Celeana relationship and story line. My favorite scene was the one in Maeve’s palace where Celeana bargained for his freedom and then he pledge a new one to her, it was so beautiful, and it was the real first time we really see Rowan emotional (besides that scene where he tells us about his mate).They’re my absolute favorites, and at the end when she’s leaving and she’s crying and he’s wiping away the tears…. I loved that they’re carranam. I don’t think their relationship is really romantic, but if Dorian wasn’t in the picture I’d definitely probably be team Rowan. I can’t wait for Rowan to join her in Erilea when magic does come back, because it’s coming back.

It was nice seeing Celaena’s internal struggles with her Fae form and magic, and learning all about her past. Then when she finally accepted her fate, who she was and who she had to be, it was so nice. Oh and that scene with little Dorian, the most adorable thing.

so Chaol, oh Chaol, I’ve never been so frustrated. First off, him telling Aedion about Celaena’s true identity,how stupid can you be…. Aedion said the exact same thing, I mean what if he had been under the King’s control, what if he was loyal to him, you don’t just tell her secret like that…. Yes, I did trust Aedion, but still. Then he was always so indecisive, oh “I’m not really on your side, but I’m not really on the King’s side either”… like shut up and pick one already. I hated that they kept Dorian in the dark, and when he did find out, I loved his reaction so much. See, Dorian never had doubts, he was always on Aelin’s side, but Chaol, nope. I loved it when Celaena finally let go of him at the end of the book, sorry Chaolaena shippers, but your ship has sunk, and it’s not coming back up, and I couldn’t be happier. Again, it’s not that I don’t like Chaol, but he’s just not right for her. Oh and that part where she asked Rowan about Chaol being her mate because she tried to kill him….. Nope hunny, he’s not.

Aedion was probably my second favorite new character. Aelin has so many people that are loyal to her and love her. Aedion was a great new addition to the story, and I can’t wait to see that reunion. I know the King is setting a trap for her, but he doesn’t know Aelin is also Celeana, so she’s smarter then he’s giving her credit for. I wonder how this is all going to go down, is she going to go back undercover as Celaena, or just be Aelin.

Oh I loved how we went back to the apartment on top of the warehouse because it reminded me of poor Sammy, and her old life, if you haven’t read The Assassin’s Blade you really have to.

When Aedion mentioned Dorian rising up to fight with them , I was like of course he’s going to fight, and he already started because that scene….

Okay so that scene, when Chaol finally gets his head out of his ass and stands up to the King. I loved the part when Chaol told Dorian he loved him, and Dorian just nodded, I mean I know it wasn’t in a rude way but it was still so funny. Dorian was so badass, Fire and Ice guys, Fire and Ice. I’m so scared for him, like I can’t wait for Celeana to know what happened to him, and to save him. I think she’s going to have an interaction with evil Dorian and it’s going to be so emotional. I don’t think Celorian is going to happen immediately, Celaena I think has healed from Chaol, but he still has to heal from Sorscha.

I’m so excited for Queen of Shadows, this series might just be my favorite fantasy series to date. She’s definitely one of my favorite authors.

Like this:

title: crown of midnight

author: sarah j. maas

series: throne of glass #2

page count:418

publication: august, 27, 2015

publisher: bloomsbury

format: e-book

source: owned

“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

This book was just as good as the first, I think I preferred it to Throne of Glass, but I also didn’t appreciate the lack of Dorian moments in this book. I mean he was there, and we heard from him because he was going through his own dilemma, but we had an abundance of Chaol and Celeana time, and I got frustrated quick, but we’ll get more into that later on. If you haven’t read Throne of Glass yet, then you should, and if you have and haven gotten to Crown of Midnight yet, then you should. That’s all I can really say guys, just this series is getting better and better. I’m currently reading The Assassin’s Blade before Heir of Fire and it’s great too so far. Sam is amazing, and fierce just like her. Here’s my review for Throne of Glass.

So yeah, from now on this will contain spoilers, and not mild ones, so beware.

OKayyy, so we find out so much in this book, it’s ridiculous.You know I had a feeling Celeana wasn’t actually killing the people the king sent her to kill, I didn’t doubt her for a second.

First I want to talk about the romance between Chaol and Celeana, you know I’m glad it happened, so she can get it out of the way lol, but I’m still team Dorian 100%. I really don’t get why people ship her so much with Chaol, I mean he’s fine, but I still can’t see him as a love interest. I still see him as more of a protector, even after all of this, I still don’t see it. I’m sorry, but I can’t. Dorian is so noble, like when they were on the horses and he realized what was happening, even though he was hurting all he said was “Treat her well”, like my poor prince.

Then there was Nehemia dying, I didn’t see that one coming, after the speech she had with Queen Elena, I really thought they were going to like kill Chaol or something, but to find out that she had died and all the pieces came to place, I couldn’t believe it. When Celeana almost killed Chaol, I had to be honest, I wouldn’t of had minded him dying there, I mean really it was like kill him, don’t kill him, oh well. I was just as pissed at Chaol as Celeana was, I can’t believe he didn’t tell her or Nehemia…. Dorian would’ve done something. Remember in book 1 when the King and the Duke wanted to hold Nehemia captive, even though Dorian knew he couldn’t tell her, he still fought hard and stood up to his father about how horrible of an idea this was, so without her knowing it, he had saved her, but Chaol noooo, just kept quiet about everything; I mean, even if he didn’t tell Celeana or Nehemia, the least he could’ve done was watch over her himself, I mean he could’ve done something……

So, Dorian has magic, and Celeana is actually Fae, and she’s Aelin, the rightful heir to the Terrasen Throne, omg this turn of events was an unexpected one, but a welcome one. Dorian and her are meant to be, I mean they can relate on so much more now. I loved the scene underneath the library when Dorian was there with her as they fought the creature, it was nice seeing them working together like that. It was nice seeing Dorian trust her enough to show her his powers. This is going to be so great, I mean imagine how powerful they could be together, the heir of Adarlan and the heir of Terrasen, they’d be such great rulers. In Throne of Glass I thought Aelin might actually have been Nehemia, but it makes sense because remember how she was so certain that the person claiming to be Aelin was an impostor, she was so sure because she is Aelin. This series has such great potential and so far it’s living up to every second of it.

Oh and Archer, I didn’t really suspect him, did any of you see him coming?I can’t believe he was behind Nehemia’s murder.

I loved how Gavin came to Dorian to warn him about Celeana opening the portal, and Elena came to Celeana all the time, I mean come on, Gavin could’ve gone to Chaol, but he chose Dorian, I think they ship it too lol.

I was kind of upset at the end when she told Chaol about her being a Fae, but not Dorian, and also when she knocked out Dorian to go after Chaol and Fleetfoot in the portal, like did you really have to..? So anyways, yes Chaol saw her as Fae and Dorian did not, but I want her to tell him, soon. Then at the end, when she told Chaol about the Wyrdkeys and the date, I was upset again that she chose to tell him and not Dorian, but she did explain that she wasn’t ready to tell him because it’ll destroy him or something like that knowing that his dad was doing all that, and yeah I get it, but he has to know, soon. I hate how rude she was to Dorian early on, and then when all went to hell with Chaol she goes “I do have a friend, Dorian” and I was like noo shitttt lol, if only you stopped being so rude to him at first.

Then the the end, I’m excited to see Wendlyn and to meet infamous Rowan, but it was so dumb and possessive of Chaol to propose the deal to the king without consulting her first, like he’s always doing dumb shit like this, ughhh.
But anyways, this series is so good! So good!

What were your thoughts? Have you read Heir of Fire yet? What’d you think? I’m curious, did any of you switch teams after reading this book?

Like this:

title: throne of glass

author: sarah j. maas

series: throne of glass #1

page count: 404

publication: August 7, 2012

publisher: bloomsbury

format: Hardcover

source: library

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Okay, so I loved this book. I mean the hype around it is real, so I kind of went in expecting it to be great, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s high fantasy, and it’s amazing. Celeana was such a great character to read from. She’s super badass and she’s pretty funny, I loved her POV. Then we have Chaol and Dorian, the love interests. Yes, this has a love triangle in it, but it doesn’t really take main focus in the story, she’s too amazing for that. I’m just going to come out and say it, I’m team Dorian, and I’ve just finished reading Crown of Midnight, so if anyone expected that it would change my mind, it didn’t. I’m with Christine on this one, Dorian FTW! Here’s the thing with Chaol, I like him, I do, but I don’t see him as a love interest. I see him more as a protector, like a best friend really, but Dorian is so clearly the right love interest, I don’t get why everyone doesn’t see it that way. I was so frustrated during Crown of Midnight…..but that’s for the next review. To be honest, when I finished this book, even though I was leaning more towards Dorian, I was still one the fence, but after Crown of Midnight, the path was super clear. I mean they share so much in common, I mean I really don’t get why people ship her with Chaol over Dorian lol.. Dorian is glorious compared to Chaol who’s just like basic……

So basically, this book was amazing, I loved every second of it, and I loved the sequel just as much. I’d recommend everyone to read this, especially if you enjoy the show Reign, Game of Thrones, if you liked Legend by Marie Lu (different genre, but I feel like Celeana and June are a bit similar). From now on there might be mild spoilers about the book so read at your own caution (:

I loved when Celeana wrote to Dorian about borrowing the books from the library, and he sent back the tower of books to her, that was so cute.

So anyways, the competition, I loved the friendship she developed with Nox. How badass she was in all the challenges. The final battle was so suspenseful to read about, I mean I loved how she easily beat Grave,but then I was so mad she didn’t realize the wine was poisoned. It felt suspenseful because I didn’t know whether or not she would win. I knew she wasn’t going to die, but I didn’t know if she would win, because the story could’ve gone either way really, she could’ve ended up not becoming the King’s Champion, and granted the story would’ve been different, but I think it could of still happened, and honestly, until Elena came, I didn’t see how she was going to get out of it.

Queen Elena, so apparently Celeana shares blood with her somehow, I loved her arc in the story, it was nice to have her like a guardian angel looking over Celeana, and Nehemia, I love her too, her friendship with Celeana is beautiful, and I think much needed on both parts.

When Dorian gave her that bag of candy and the puppy, oh that was just such a beautiful scene. I love how she ate like the whole bag of candy, it shows that even though she’s this badass assassin, she still has a childish humanity inside her.

Cain being the one behind the killings I saw coming, and the rings with the duke and the king, and I want to know more about Kaltain’s role in all of this.

This book was such a great debut, and I’m looking forward to continuing on with it. I have Heir of Fire left, but before that I’ll read The Assassin’s Blade because there are so many references to her past in both this book and Crown of Midnight, so I want to know more and meet this infamous Sam.

Have you read this book? Series? Leave you thoughts below! Also, which team are yo on?

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Title: the heir

author: kiera cass

series: The selection #4

genre: YA, dystopian, romance

page count: 342

publicATION: May 5, 2015

publisher: Harper Teen

Format: Hardcover

Source: Purchased

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.

Okay, so I really loved this book, I did. The Selection is one of my favorite series, it’s the type of series where you either hate it or you love it, and with me I loved it. America wasn’t the best protagonist, but I got used to her. She was the most frustrating in The Elite, but in The One, she was great. I loved the ending to The One, I thought it was beautiful, and I read the other Epilogue,which I loved. Kiera Cass’ writing is so beautiful and easy to get into. When it was announced that there would be two more books in the series, I was one of the people who were really excited about it. If you haven’t read The Selection series yet, then I’d suggest you give it a try, and if you’ve finished the series, then there’s no reason for you to not read The Heir. Although, with what happened at the end of the book I feel like Kiera might be going down a certain road with these characters that we already know and love, and it’s not a path that anyone would be happy with, but I doubt she’d do that.

Anyways, for those of you who’ve read The One, The Heir follows Eadlyn Schreave, Maxon and America’s firstborn daughter, and the heir to the throne. By the time the book starts off the castes have been dissolved, but there’s a bit of rebellion and discrimination still going on, so America and Maxon decide that it would be a good idea to host a selection for Eadlyn. She’s not too happy about it because she believes that she doesn’t need anyone and she can do it all by herself. Here’s the thing with Eadlyn, I relate to her on a super deep level. I like her am also very indepedent, and don’t really allow my self to feel too much emotion, but Eadlyn is like me on a whole other level. I, for one am not as bitchy as she was at the beginning, and while I do believe that I can achieve whatever I want in life without a man, I’m not closed off to the idea of love. I loved the part where she realizes that she’s built a wall around herself, it was nice to see because she didn’t even realize she had built it.

If you haven’t read The Heir yet, this might go a bit into spoilers now, but yeah, if you enjoyed The One, why not. Come back, and let me know your thoughts!

Okay, let’s talk about the suitors, my current Elites are Ean, Henri, Hale and Kile. At first, I really didn’t like Hale, because his first line to her was that his dad came off a line of twos, but I liked him after that, how he protected her on the float, it was all nice; and I love how he does something everyday to prove his worth to her, that’s super cute. Ean I loved instantly, because of his first interaction with her, the whole “Just Ean” thing, that was funny, so he was my favorite instantly. Then there’s Henri, whom I love so dearly, the kissing scene with him in the kitchen was pure gem, and the way he felt after, thinking maybe he’d gone too far, was so cute. Then, there’s Kile who is everyone’s favorite, at least I’m guessing. I love how they’re falling in love and not even realizing it. Their story will be hard though because he wants to leave the castle, but she’s going to be Queen so if they do get married, he’ll be Prince Consort, and that’s not what he wants, but as Prince he could still be an Architect, because he’s not King, so he doesn’t exactly hold the same responsibilities.

I think the top two will be Hale and Kile, or maybe Ean and Kile so it can reflect Kriss and America (settling vs love). Ean is her settling, which by the way, I love the deal Ean made with her, because it reminded me of the deal America made with Maxon at the beginning. I read someone’s theory that he’s gonna turn out to be a pshyco, but I don’t think so, at least I hope not. Although, I really don’t get why he’s so willing to settle, I mean maybe it’s the crown, but I think he might also be running away from something. Here’s why I don’t think it’ll be Henri, I think Erik is actually in love with him, I really believe that, I think Kiera tried to hint at that maybe he’s in love with Eadlyn, but I think that’s just what she wants us to believe. For example, when they were going on the float, Eadlyn said something about “brotherly love” but the emphasis on brotherly was unnecessary, then after Eadlyn asked Erik if he entered in the Selection, she went to dance with Henri and she said she saw Erik looking at them with a sad look in his eyes, and I don’t think it’s because he can’t be with her, I think it’s because he can’t be with Henri. Then when Erik was waiting for her outside her door to tell her Henri’s concerns, he asked her if she did care about him, because obviously he wanted to know so hopefully Henri wouldn’t get hurt. I think that this is all going to come to light and at the end of it all all three of them are going to become close friends just like America is with Marlee and Lucy.

Anyways, I loved the letter Ahren wrote her after he married Camille, that was so deep and I understood him perfectly.
America getting a heart attack in the end was shocking to me. I feel like Kiera is trying to like kill them off like she did with Amberly and Clarkson, but she better not because then everyone will hate her. Also, finding out Kenna, her older sister had passed from a heart issue was pretty sad. I think Maxmerica will just retire at the end of the next book and the Eadlyn can take over. I loved her arc of development throughout the book, reminded us of her mothers own development throughout the series.

Anyways, those were my thoughts, share yours!

RATING:

Xx

(PS: I’m now a Book Depository Affiliate, so if you want to buy the book below and use this link, I’ll get a small comission ♥)

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping story about two sisters inexorably altered by a terrible accident.

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara’s beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it’s too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

Prior to reading this book, I had never read a Lauren Oliver book, and based on this one, I’m certainly looking forward to reading all her other books. I went into this book with hardly any expectations, and it completely blew me away. I didn’t foresee the ending, at all, and it was a nice, unexpected, wonderfully done ending.

“Perfect for readers who devoured We Were Liars, it’s the sort of novel that readers will race to finish, then return to the beginning to marvel at how it was constructed-and at everything they missed. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This review sums up exactly how I feel, after finishing it I just wanted to go back and read it over again with a new perspective. After finishing the book I thought back to all the little things and it ended up making perfect sense. The way she wrote the book, I don’t know how she pulled it off, but she did. It’s told in dual point of views, Nick and Dara’s, it’s also told in Before and After, so past and present, from before the accident, and from after; there are also a couple diary entries, as well as news blog posts. It sounds like it’d be confusing, but it’s really not, it all fits into the flow of the story nicely. Not many authors could pull that off as flawlessly as she did.

The publisher’s Weekly review says that if you loved We Were Liars (which I did) then you’ll love this too, but don’t think that if you didn’t then you won’t like this one, because I’m pretty sure all the things you didn’t like about We Were Liars aren’t in this book, and all the things you loved, are in it.

It’s such a compelling story of two sisters. All the love, the hate, the heartbreak, everything you could imagine would be between such a relationship is in this book. I’ve always wished I had a sister who was around my age, so I loved reading their story, seeing how close they were before the accident. Seeing what pulled them apart, what brought them back together. Seeing how much one affected the other. Nick and Dara are nothing alike, but yet so similar.

It kind of left us with an open ending, but I think it was a perfect ending. Once you finish it, you will be blown away. Once you start to think back to everything that happened , you’ll probably get confused but it’ll slowly all start making perfect sense, she thought of everything, there was so much room to mess up in this book, but she didn’t, not even one mishap. There are places where names should’ve been said, but they weren’t, all because of the way she wanted to end it. It’s definitely going to be on my favorites of the year list, and I’m looking forward to all her future and past works.

I usually include a spoiler section into my reviews, but with this one, even though there are many things I could talk about, I decided not to, because it’s not something I’d want to risk anyone getting spoiled on. If you have read this book and would like to discuss it with spoilers, feel free to comment (with a warning) or tweet me @wordssweheart, and we could DM.

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

I love this series, it gets better and better with every book and I’m so excited for Winter to see how it all ends. The reason I loved this book so much is because they were all finally reunited, and Cress was going to join the crew as well. When we’re first formally introduced to Cress, and I realized who she was, that was such a nice thing to include. It shows that she’d planned all her characters before writing book 1. Then, we also get to know that besides the fact that we’ve seen her before, she has a closer connection to an already known character. I figured out the connection really early on in the book before it was revealed to us. There were a lot of hints.

Anyways, this one didn’t take Scarlet’s spot as my favorite of the three books. As for characters, we’re introduced to Winter and Jacin, who are both going to be main parts of the final book Winter. Cress was my least favorite out of the three girls, I found her to be quite a bit annoying in her actions at time, which I mean she’s young, but still, I feel like she was just whiny and impulsive, and that got her into trouble way to many times. I hope she grows into a more and better developed character by the end of the next book.

The ending of the book, though, it makes you want to next one ASAP! I can’t believe we now have to wait until December, true we have Fairest, but it’s not the same.

It’s definitely one of my favorite series, and she’s definitely one of my favorite authors. Her writing style is perfect. It all flows perfectly, and the story is just beautifully planned out. Bottom line, I loved it.

Rating:

Spoilers

Anyone else shocked when it was revealed that Cress was the same exact girl who told Cinder about Levana’s plan in Cinder? I certainly was.

So when Wolf said he loved Scarlet…. that was the cutest thing, and the way they both reacted, it was super sweet, and adorable. Even though Kai and Cinder are my favorite relationship in the series, I love them all, even Cress and Thorne.

I figured out Cress was Dr. Erland’s daughter pretty early on because of his references to his Crescent Moon, and I knew they were connected.

Cinder really got on my nerves a couple of times, especially when she opened that podship. It’s her fault Scarlet is gone. While we’re speaking of Scarlet, did she chop off her finger, because that’s a little messed up. I hope she didn’t, but by the looks of it, she did.

I love that we got Iko’s point of view! I feel like she might be killed in the last book though, I don’t want her to be, but she might.

I was so happy when Mira died, it was about time, I hated her, I think we all did.

Then when Jacin realized that Cinder was Princess Selene, and he smiled, that was funny because he and Cinder had had that whole Princess conversation when she thought he was talking about her, but truly he was speaking of Winter.

Then when Cinder FINALLY told Kai who she was. I’d been waiting for that moment for so long, and it was perfect. Then they kissed, my otp was back ♥

I’m so excited for Winter, the war has begun and it’s going to be so great. I’m scared to see who she sacrifices. She released that she killed someone who she wasn’t planning on killing at first, and I don’t know who that it. I just hope it’s not one of the boys, and I know Cinder is going to survive, I doubt she’d kill Scarlet and as for Cress, since she killed Dr. Erland (which I also saw coming) I doubt she’ll kill his only descendant too.

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison–even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I enjoyed this book just as much, if not more than it’s prequel. I have now read all three books published in this series and I think this one might be my favorite of them all. Scarlet isn’t my favorite out of the three main characters, I think I like Cinder a little more, but she’s in second place.

Scarlet is a re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood. She had red hair, wears a red hoodie, lives in a farm with her grandmother who’s gone missing. Very early on in the book we meet Wolf, and I loved him instantly, he’s adorable.

We also meet Captain Thorne and isn’t he a charmer. His and Cinder’s relationship was so cute. I loved seen both from Cinder’s perspective and Scarlet’s perspective, and I loved it even more when their paths crossed.

Since this is a sequel, I can’t talk much about it without spoiling it’s prequel. If you’ve read Cinder then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t want to continue on with the series, and if you haven’t yet, then I highly suggest that you do.

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I loved this book. It’s been on my tbr for awhile and now that I finally had them all I read them. Cinder follows a girl named Cinder, she’s a cyborg. She’s a mechanic, a very good one. The book is set in the future, there’s been 5 world wars, the planet formed an Earthen Alliance because of the Lunar threat. She has two step sisters, and the step-mother. One of her step-sisters Peony is really nice to her. She reminded me of Anastasia because Anastasia was the nicest of the two. In case you didn’t know she ended up getting her own spin-off movie(s). Then we have Pearl who was the evil one. Cinder isn’t accepted because she’s a cyborg. She does have her android, Iko to keep her company though. One day while she’s at the market, the prince shows up and asks her to fix his droid. Prince Kai is so sweet. I know how his name is pronounced but I kept reading it as (kay) in my head for some reason. He’s amazing, honestly, you’ll love him. Then we have Levana, Lunar Queen. Basically, the moon is considered a planet, called Luna (which is the latin word for it) and it houses people called Lunars. They have the power to control others, it’s not magic, it’s science but that’s what they can do. Levana is, well evil, and she threatens the earth. She wants a marriage alliance with the CommonWealth, which is Kai’s country. He obviously doesn’t want to marry her, just like his father didn’t. There’s also this disease going around, Letumosis, and it’s killing the population.

I don’t know what else I can say without spoiling, just that the book is fantastic. Even if you don’t like sci-fi, give it a chance, you’ll might be surprise to find out just how much you’ll like it.

Like this:

I’ve read the first three books in the series, and I’m going to write an independent review for each book, but I wanted to just write an overall series review (without spoilers) for those of you wondering whether or not you should read it.

In Cinder, the first book we follow Cinder, a cyborg. The whole series is a bunch of fairy tale retellings, in each book we follow a new main character, but it’s continuous so you do have to read them in order. For example, in Scarlet we follow Scarlet, a new character, but we do get point of views from Cinder and old characters from the first book, picking up where they left off.

Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella. She’s a cyborg, which in case you didn’t know means she’s part machine. It’s set in New Beijing, which is a new version of the Beijing we know today. There’s a prince, obviously, his name’s Prince Kai and he’s amazing. Cinder has 2 step sisters and a stepmother. It’s basic Cinderella, but a lot cooler.

Scarlet is a retelling of Red Riding Hood. We follow Scarlet, and she’s fully human. She works on a farm with her grandmother who has gone missing. We also meet Wolf, who’s amazing as well. The story follows her journey to find her grandmother with new and old friends. The story of Cinder overlaps with hers.

Cress is a retelling of Rapunzel. We actually meet her in a previous book, so keep your eye out for that. She’s Lunar, and she’s been living in a satellite most of her life. I won’t say much else. There’s also Captain Thorne whom we meet in Scarlet, he’s phenomenal. All her male leads are amazing. I think Kai is my favorite, but it’s hard to choose.

The last book is titled Winter and it’ll follow Princess Winter, whom we meet in Cress. As you probably tell, she’s a retelling of Snow White, and she’s also Lunar.

I love this series so much, it’s sci-fi but it’s so entertaining. I totally recommend all of you to read it. Individual reviews for each book will be posted, but I hope this helped you decide whether or not you want to read it.